5/5

5/5

Current student in Biblical Studies and I listen to this every night before I sleep. Its been a year now, almost through my second listen. Wonderful audio quality, concise and to the point. Thank you for taking the time to pursue podcasting, I look forward to future series. Would love to see you do a focus on the shift and migration of Christianity to America and the morphing of it there, you hit on it a bit...but just as you have done with expanding on Heresies I think it could be a fitting topic! Anyways, TOTALLY recommend for anyone trying to grasp the big picture without getting bogged down in details.

5/5

5/5

I absolutely love this podcast. It's a perfect primer if you're wanting to get more familiar with church history, get a taste of larger concepts, brush up on some church history, or launch off into deeper study on a specific area. Lance communicates masterfully and his intellect and passion find a sweet spot in this invigorating podcast. Thank you Lance!!!

4/5

These podcasts are well-paced, interesting, and informative. Ralston generally does his best to explain how abhorrent practices crept into the church at many points, usually but not always from well-meaning and sincere adherents to the faith. He takes this too far in regards to the Crusades, and shoots himself in the foot when he stoops to making comparisons to Islam. But a very small number of such misfirings do not significantly detract from his general ability to hit the target from a great temporal distance.

5/5

5/5

I like the even-handed, factual approach of this podcast. The presenter is up front about his background and generally gives a warning when he overtly inserts his perspective. He avoids going down rabbit holes of theological disputes that have plagued the Christian faith over the centuries. I especially like the 'overview' segments.

5/5

3/5

Up until "the change" episodes, this was an enjoyable podcast. Ralston went into what I felt an acceptable amount of detail without getting stuck in dates and names too much. But "the change" episodes deal with historical, societal shift re: value of life, and to me this underscores a basic issue with this podcast:
Ralston makes attempts to accomodate and limit his biases with respect to other Christian denominations and churches, but he stops there. Whether displaying his own (undeclared) biases or unconsciously folding in the biases of his sources, he casts Christian proselytizers as positive regardless of the environment they operated in. He pays no mind to the recent pivot by many historians to revise their approach to non-western societies. Similarly, he produces his podcast seemingly insulated from any current inter-Christian debates and politics...
...Which brings me to the subject of abortion: Ralston pitches that "modern society" displays an indifference to human life and holds up as an example abortions in general. Not every Christian believes this. (Case in point, me.) In the episode addressing sexuality and gender, he presents the topic as if the entire Church doctrine backs up his opinion, instead of approaching it with an unbiased, clinical voice. He even issues a disclaimer at the beginning that, in my experience, is only ever used by people who want to insulate themselves from disagreement while uncritically repeating their opinions and points of view as if they're fact.
(In case you couldn't tell, I'm from the Baptist "your faith is between you and God and anyone who interferes uninvited with that faith is bad" mindset.)
Do you want an easy-to-understand, only moderately biased podcast that goes into a lot more Christian history than you probably alreay know as a layperson? This is the podcast for you. Do you expect any theology to be examined critically and with only minimal bias? Then I'd go somewhere else.

5/5

4/5

This is an informative podcast, but it is far from being unbiased or *scientifically* historical. It is done by a pastor, who knows his stuff, including his deeply Christian stuff. One needs to approach this podcast with a critical ear and a critical mind, and weigh the information presented carefully. The historical premises are accurate, but their evaluation is heavily slated towards the support of Christianity - understandably so, given the author's affiliation. Basically, in the evaluation of every historical event, Christians are good (even when they do horrible things, it's merely because of being misguided but with good intentions), members of every other religion - bad (even when there is no historiographic or archeological evidence for their inherent evil and immorality). However, if one wants to learn about the *religious* take on history of the Christian Church, this is the podcast to go to. IT presents an overview of the divisions in the church from its very beginnings, the relationship between states and the church in the middle ages, the history of several popes, etc. The sound quality is good, the length of each episode is reasonable, the voice quality of the podcaster is excellent, and the manner of narration is entertaining.

4/5

I started the podcast 2 months ago and just finished episode 150. Lance does a pretty good job of giving a quick overview of the church. Though the podcast includes theology, people, dates, denominational names, he does not get bogged down in the details. This makes the podcast fast paced and unique when compared to a seminary class or different podcast on theology or some other subject. He tells of the good that Christianity brought and regrettable actions from all different kinds of denominations in different eras. I would not say that he is biased towards any particular denomination in his podcast (he explicitly states that he’s a conservative evangelical and he tries to explicitly state when he is expressing his own views); however, he does podcast from the perspective that Christianity is true, so a non-Christian listener might be frustrated by that. Regardless, it is a history that the common man and academic alike can enjoy

5/5

I listen to a lot of podcasats and itune U podcasts (as in dozens over the years) and this is my favorite. He keeps the episodes short, concise, and very interesting. He will throw in his bias occassionally, but always with a warning. I think he does his best to be fair to all the major views, but he cannot please everyone. A great podcast for all, even the non Christian who wants to see what billlions of people believe. I have listened to all 150 episodes and I am now on my second time through.

5/5

I like it. Although admittedly not an exhaustive report of every event of church history, it certainly provides an understanding of how the church has come to be what it is today. I appreciate all the effort put into producing this body of work.

5/5

As Christians is our duty to know our history. I have heard all episodes and is amazing all the information and knowledge I have acquired with this podcast.. More than two thousand years of history are unpacked in this podcast. Communion Sanctorum is the continuation of what happened after the Book of Acts until recent history. I personally love "The Change" episodes. Thank you so much for taking time to do this podcast.

5/5

5/5

5/5

This podcast is a fairly unbiased stroll through history. When he does have a bias, he mentions it and tries to keep things neutral otherwise. I recommend this podcast to anyone interested in history of this time and region, regardless of personal faith or non-faith. The fact is, Christianity played a major role in the history of Europe and surrounding regions and this is a great way to understand how the church evolved. Knowing this can also explain why it is the way it is and even how and why it shapes history today. He does a good job of covering history outside strictly the church as it becomes necessary. He really puts things in perspective.

5/5

I've listened to the entire second series so far and have been able to piece together various bits of history that I've heard before. Lance is easy to listen to and does a great job of reminding the audience of how it all pieces together.

5/5

This podcaster is a thorough layman who enjoys relaying the history of the christian church in roughly 20 minute segments. It is not meant to replace doctoral teachings, but it is a good review and offers some fun facts that may be skipped over in more academic relaying. Regardless of this, I highly recommend it to others.Regardless

5/5

5/5

I am currently working through a masters degree from a distance. That being said, I do not have available to me the classroom setting which includes lectures, discussion, etc. Communio Sanctorum has helped to fill part of this gap. The lectures provided for the grad school I am obtaining my degree in are not very helpful…to be honest they are incredibly boring. Communion Sanctorum helps to flesh out the minutia of information I am consuming each week through course assigned reading in a lecture-style form. Ralston does an incredible job working through the various movements and events in Christian history while not boring his audience with dates and names. His personality is definitely seen in how he presents the information, which provides an engaging podcast that is enjoyable to listen to!

5/5

I learn a great deal about theology and history as I listen to these short and digestible, yet analytical podcasts. I really enjoy it, and Lance does a great job of commenting when appropriate. Would recommend to anyone interested in Christian history.

5/5

I'm up to about episode 95, and it's been great! The style, delivery and quality are all superb. I've learned a lot from this podcast. I've read some of the negative reviews, and I'll say that the presenter admits to his bias, buts strives to be strrictly historical. When he isn't, he clearly states it as an opinion. We all view history through our current perspective. I think this one is very well done.

5/5

Great podcast. It's very informative. There are obvious biases, but every history podcast will have this. To get too heavily into the historiographical debates would bog down the podcast far too much. If you are looking for a concise overview this is exactly what you are looking for.

5/5

This podcast is incredibly helpful, started listening through from the beginning and it is already a great blessing. I really appreciate the efforts gone to in trying to make the narrative unbiased. Keep up the great work brother!

1/5

The podcast mentioned several times how you would never know (suggesting there's a conspiracy) by reading modern science writing that many of the early scientists were, in fact, Christian. There wouldn't be any reason to talk about a persons faith in science text because it's completely irrelevant to how science works.
I could go on about obvious logical,historical, factual problems with what the podcaster is saying but why bother? Can't enlighten sheep.

5/5

2/5

It's difficult for me to review this podcast , as it's a history of church dogma , rather than history per se. It does not critically engage with history , just blindly accepts church dogma . If that's what you want , then it's good .

5/5

5/5

I work at a rare book store (Schilb Antiquarian) so when I'm handling a title written by Ambrose or Augustine it's incredible to learn indepth about the history of what I'm photographing and handling. Very thankful for this podcast and I feel like it's also given me things to mull over and consider as I study the Bible and think about the early church. Please don't stop until the podcast arrives at the modern day church : )

5/5

5/5

I have enjoyed this podcast very much. I find church history to be fasinating. The branch of the church I am a part of does not offer classes or teaching on church history. I have been part of this branch for many years and am just now learning how the church got from the first century to where it is today. Thank you.

5/5

5/5

Like the creator of this podcast, I was also disappointed with the church history podcasts. Then I found this one. Excellent sound quality. Good delivery and format. Educational and engaging. Like the chronological progression and that he delves deeper. Surprisingly engaging since it's one person talking history. But he's telling stories, and does it well. And usually applies it to today.
A bit short for my taste, but I understand that most people like the shorter ones. And it'd be nice to mix it up with a guest now and then. Hey, maybe you should do a longer episode once a month...just sayin.

5/5

5/5

This podcast is very well done. Lance is clear and honest about his goals, his background, and his own unavoidable interpretive filters. He is engaging, enjoyable to listen to, and has done an excellent job of condensing an enormous amount of material into fascinating and manageable portions.

5/5

5/5

I'd never before had an interest in church history, but because of this podcast....it's now a hunger for me! To know our rich heritage is to better understand the miracle of God's providence for His Bride!
Thank you so much for your continued hard work. It is blessing many.